RP looking for U.S. help if threatened

RP looking for U.S. help if threatened

MANILA (Agencies): The head of the Philippines' armed forces said yesterday he had held informal discussions on possible U.S. military help if the country comes under threat.

The comments by Gen. Arnulfo Acedera follow growing rancor in recent weeks between the Philippines and China over small islands and rocks in the South China Sea which both claim.

"We talked about it (a contingency plan) superficially. When you are playing together among golfers, everything is possible," Acedera said, without naming his U.S. military golfing partners.

The commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, Adm. Joseph Prueher, was in Manila earlier this week.

A U.S. embassy official said there had been no formal discussions on the issue.

Acedera said all he really wanted in an emergency was a show of strength rather than combat troops, pointing to the movement of the U.S. Seventh Fleet near to Taiwan last year when a dispute with China grew tense.

"I think we should be satisfied with that," he said. "For instance, if without being provoked, all of a sudden a superior force subjected (our territory) ... to some form of harassment, it would constitute ... a contingency situation," Acedera said.

However, there were no concrete proposals and the matter would have to be agreed at a higher level, he said.

The United States ended its military presence in the Philippines nearly five years ago with the closure of the last of its two huge bases there.

Manila has accused Beijing of sending naval ships into the Spratly Islands, which it claims.

China insists the ships were research vessels and has demanded Manila stop all activity on an obscure group of rocks further north in the South China Sea, where Philippine fishermen recently hoisted their national flag.

Agreement

The Philippines has been pressing China to stick to an earlier agreement that binds the two to do nothing in the disputed area that would be seen as threatening.

This week Acedera warned China it risked being branded a bully over its behavior in the contested Spratly islands. The Philippines is also looking at allowing U.S. naval ships to use Subic Bay, the former U.S. Navy base north of Manila, for refueling and other support needs, Acedera said.

U.S. naval ships stopped calling at the port last December until the two sides could sort out an agreement on the status of U.S. servicemen once they were on Philippine soil.

The U.S. Embassy said there were no formal discussions on the issue.

"There are no ongoing discussions, nor are the U.S. and the Philippines engaged in any negotiations for increased use of Subic Bay facilities," a U.S. official said.

Philippine President Fidel Ramos, meanwhile, said yesterday that Manila would raise its dispute with China over the islands at the ASEAN Regional Forum meeting at Langkawi, Malaysia, next week.

A palace statement quoted Ramos as saying this would include a meeting with China, one of the ASEAN dialog partners.

Ramos had earlier called for the "slight tensions" between the two countries over conflicting claims to the shoal and other islands in the South China Sea to be resolved "peacefully and diplomatically."